Bridge joint cover assembly

ABSTRACT

A bridge joint cover assembly for a busway bridge joint, the assembly comprising at least one cover plate having an opening and a viewing plate including infrared (IR) material. The IR material is aligned with the opening of the cover plate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/509,611, filed on Jul. 12, 2019, which in turn is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/643,983, filed on Jul. 7, 2017 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,355,462 issued Jul. 16, 2019), which in turn claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/456,849, filed onFeb. 9, 2017. The disclosures of these applications are incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to windows for exposing connection linesof a busway bridge joint. More specifically, the present disclosurerelates to windows for exposing the electrical connections of a buswaybridge joint for measuring a live temperature of the connections.

BACKGROUND

Busway installations consist of several pieces of bus duct that areconnected with bridge joints. Bridge joints transfer the electrical loadfrom one busway piece to the next via conductor plates and insulatorplates. The joint may be assembled via a bolted joint connection,ensuring that the proper contact is maintained between phases of eachbusway piece.

Bridge joint covers are installed around the bridge joints to preventinjury to people nearby, as well as to comply with safety standards setby various standards-setting organizations and governments. To complywith general best practices, infrared (“IR”) temperature measurements ofcertain portions of busways must be made periodically.

Bridge joint covers may be made of continuous metal, preventing a userfrom easily inspecting a bridge joint or making temperaturemeasurements. Thus, a user must first power down an entire busway,remove the cover, and power the busway back on before making thetemperature measurement of the live busway. This method is cumbersome,inefficient, and dangerous due to the live busway being exposed. “Live”in this context means a condition where electricity is actively flowingthrough the phases of the busways and bridge joint.

SUMMARY

A bridge joint cover plate assembly includes a bridge joint cover platehaving a cover plate hole, a viewing plate fixed to the bridge jointcover plate, wherein the viewing plate covers the cover plate hole, andinfrared (IR) material located on the viewing plate. The IR material isaligned with the cover plate hole. The IR material may further compriseat least one port. The viewing plate may further include an IR materialcover connected to the viewing plate. The IR material cover may furtherinclude a fastening assembly at an upper portion of the IR materialcover, configured to selectively lock the upper portion of the IRmaterial cover to the viewing plate. The IR material may be a pluralityof honeycomb-shaped ports. The viewing plate may be connected to thebridge joint cover plate via one or more bolts, or alternatively may beconnected to the bridge joint cover plate via welding, or alternativelymay be integral with the bridge joint cover plate. The bridge jointcover plate may include two horizontally extending flanges to fix thebridge joint cover plate to the at least one busway. The assembly mayfurther include a top plate and a bottom plate that attach to the bridgejoint cover plate, to cover a top and a bottom of a bridge joint. Thebridge joint cover plate may further include at least one elongated holeconfigured to receive a bolt.

In another embodiment, a method for reading temperatures on a buswaycomprises the steps of opening an IR material cover on a viewing plateto expose IR material of the viewing plate, wherein at least a portionof a busway is visible though the IR material of the viewing plate, andmeasuring the temperature on at least a portion of the busway, while thebusway is live. The step of measuring may be performed with anon-contact temperature gun. The measurement may be taken through the IRmaterial of the viewing plate. The IR material cover may be attached tothe viewing plate. The IR material may comprise a plurality ofhoneycomb-shaped ports.

In yet another embodiment, a bridge joint cover assembly includes abridge joint cover plate, where the bridge joint cover plate includes acover plate hole. The bridge joint cover assembly also includes aviewing plate fixed to the bridge joint cover plate and covering thecover plate hole. At least a portion of the viewing plate is constructedof infrared material. The bridge joint cover assembly further includes acover connected to the viewing plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, structures are illustrated that, togetherwith the detailed description provided below, describe exemplaryembodiments of the claimed invention. Like elements are identified withthe same reference numerals. It should be understood that elements shownas a single component may be replaced with multiple components, andelements shown as multiple components may be replaced with a singlecomponent. The drawings are not to scale and the proportion of certainelements may be exaggerated for the purpose of illustration.

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of a cover plate having aviewing plate with ports shown in dashed lines;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the cover plate shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the cover plate shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a front view of the cover plate of FIG. 1, installed over abridge joint connecting two busways;

FIG. 4B is a section view of FIG. 4A along line B-B;

FIG. 5 is a front view of another embodiment of a cover plate andviewing plate, omitting an IR material cover;

FIG. 6 is an exploded isometric view of an embodiment of a bridge jointcover assembly having four main pieces; and

FIG. 7 is an exploded isometric view of a bridge joint cover assemblyhaving two U-shaped pieces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a bridge joint cover assembly 100 accordingto one embodiment of the present disclosure. Bridge joint cover assembly100 covers a bridge joint connecting two busways in an electricaldistribution system. Each busway can have single or multiple phasesproviding power, and the bridge joint serves to connect the respectivephases on each busway. The bridge joint cover assembly 100 is a twopiece assembly, with the front piece being shown in FIG. 1.

The bridge joint cover assembly 100 includes a bridge joint cover plate(also referred to as “cover plate”) 105 having four rectangular slots110 located at the corners of the cover plate 105. Rectangular slots 110allow the bridge joint cover assembly 100 to be affixed to the buswaysand/or bridge joint via bolts extending through the rectangular slots110 and corresponding holes in the busways and/or bridge joint.Rectangular slots 110 allow for adjustability in the right-leftdirections when mounting the bridge joint cover assembly 100 to busways.In alternative embodiments (not shown), any other number of slots may beused, such as two or five slots. In other alternative embodiments (notshown), other apertures may be employed, such as circular, square,arcuate-shaped, or irregular-shaped. Each aperture need not have thesame shape. For example, circular apertures may be employed on a leftside while rectangular slots are employed on a right side.

A viewing plate 115 is mounted to the cover plate 105 with bolts locatedat each corner of the viewing plate 115. Bolts extend through both theviewing plate 115 and cover plate 105 to affix the viewing plate 115 tothe cover plate 105. In alternative embodiments (not shown), the viewingplate can be fixed to the cover plate via other mechanical fasteningmeans such as by screw or rivet, welding, chemical bonding, or by anyother temporary or permanent attachment method.

Viewing plate 115 in this embodiment includes a plurality of transparenthoneycomb-shaped ports 120, shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1. Thehoneycomb-shaped ports 120 are made from an IR material, which is anymaterial having physical properties suitable for obtaining a temperaturereading therethrough. IR material can include, for example, atransparent glass, AMTIR-1 (amorphous material transmitting infraredradiation), arsenic trisulfide, barium fluoride, cadmium telluride,calcium fluoride, fused silica, germanium, IR polymers, lead fluoride,lithium fluoride, magnesium fluoride, magnesium oxide, sapphire, sodiumchloride, silicon, thallium bromo-iodide, zinc, selenide, or zincsulfide. The remainder of viewing plate 115 in this embodiment is madeof a metal material, such as steel or an alloy. Ports 120 are arrangedin five adjacent rows in FIG. 1, with the two outer rows 125 and centralrow 130 having one additional port than the two intermediate rows 135.Cover plate 105 further includes a cover plate hole located in a centrallocation of cover plate 105, aligned with the ports 120. In alternativeembodiments (not shown), the number and arrangement of ports can vary.In other alternative embodiments (not shown), a single pane of IRmaterial may be used instead of ports 120. In still other alternativeembodiments (not shown), the viewing plate 115 can be made of adifferent material, such as a polymeric material for example. Inalternative embodiments (not shown) ports can take other shapes, such asa circular shape, a rectangular shape, or an irregular shape.

Viewing plate 115 further includes an IR material cover 140, which isconnected to viewing plate 115 via a hinge 145. IR material cover 140can be selectively opened or closed to reveal the plurality of ports120. IR material cover 140 is a flat solid piece of steel or other metalmaterial. Latch mechanism 150 selectively latches the top of IR materialcover 140 to viewing plate 115, to permit the IR material cover 140 toopen and close. In alternative embodiments (not shown), other fasteningmeans suitable for opening and closing the IR material cover 140 may beused instead of latch mechanism 150, for example a sliding cover, arotatable cover, or a removable cover. In alternative embodiments (notshown), the IR material cover, hinge, and latch mechanism can beomitted.

When a user opens IR material cover 140 by releasing latch mechanism150, the user can measure the temperature of each phase in the busways,or regions of the busways or bridge joint, through one of the pluralityof ports 120 by using a non-contact infrared temperature gun (notshown). The user may also inspect the busway and bridge joint visuallythrough the ports 120. The user may make these measurements while thebusway is live and conducting electricity. With the IR material coveropen, a user can also visually observe the busways and connection pointsat a bridge connecting two busways. With this arrangement, a user doesnot have to power down the busways and remove the bridge joint coverprior to observing the busways or taking temperature measurements.

The bride joint cover assembly 100 further provides a grounding path forpower running through the busway and across the bridge joint. When thecover is assembled onto the bridge joint it is affixed to the busway busduct with bolts, as described above. The bus duct contains an end blockthat is grounded and rated to carry the ground current. The bridge jointcover assembly is clamped to the bus duct, which provides an electricalpath to the end block, providing the needed surface area to maintain aproper ground path.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a front piece 100 a of bridge joint coverassembly 100. At the top and bottom of the bridge joint cover assemblyfront piece are two horizontal flanges 155 a and 160 a extending at aright angle from cover plate 105. Flanges 155 a and 160 a extend arounda top and bottom of busways and the bridge joint when installed. A backpiece 100 b of bridge joint cover assembly also has two horizontalflanges 155 b, 160 b, and is oriented opposite the front piece 100 awhen installed. The back piece 100 b of bridge joint cover is installedto the bridge joint and busways in the same way as the front piece ofbridge joint cover. When a back piece 100 b of bridge joint coverassembly is installed with the front piece 100 a, the busways and bridgejoint are partially enclosed from the environment by flanges 155 a, 155b, 160 a, and 160 b. In this embodiment, the top and bottom of thebridge joint will be partially exposed when front and back pieces areinstalled, and the top and bottom of the bridge joint will not coveredby the flanges. In alternative embodiments (not shown), the flanges onthe front and back pieces can connect to each other to enclose theentire bridge joint, such that no part of the bridge joint is exposed.

The back piece of FIG. 2 does not include the viewing plate, ports, andIR material cover. In alternative embodiments (not shown), the backpiece can also have a viewing plate with ports and an IR material cover,similar to the front piece shown in FIG. 2. In other alternativeembodiments (not shown), the back piece may have some but not all of aviewing plate, ports, or IR material cover.

FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom side of the front piece of bridge jointcover assembly 100, showing two elongated holes 165 at the edges offlange 160. Elongated holes 165 align with corresponding holes in thebusways and/or bridge joint (not shown), and allow the bridge jointcover assembly 100 to be secured to the same with bolts. Elongated holes165 allow the bridge joint cover assembly 100 to be affixed to thebusways and/or bridge joint. Elongated holes 165 allow for adjustabilityin the right-left direction when mounting the bridge joint coverassembly 100 to busways. In alternative embodiments (not shown), anyother number of elongated holes may be used, such as one or three holes.In other alternative embodiments (not shown), other apertures may beemployed, such as circular, rectangular, arcuate-shaped, or anirregular-shaped. Each aperture need not have the same shape. Forexample, a circular aperture may be employed on a left side while arectangular hole is employed on a right side.

FIG. 4A is a front view of bridge joint cover assembly 100 installed ontwo adjacent busways 170, and covering a bridge joint (not shown).Busways 170 shown in FIG. 4A are exemplary, and presented only forillustrative purposes. While busways 170 are depicted as having fourlines, other busways having any number of lines may alternatively beused with the bridge joint cover of the present disclosure. Bolts 175,180 secure the bridge joint cover assembly via slots 110 and holes 165,respectively.

FIG. 4B illustrates a section view of installed bridge joint coverassembly 100 along line B-B of FIG. 4A. As seen in FIG. 4B, the bridgejoint cover assembly 100 includes both a front piece 185 and a backpiece 190, which substantially cover the front and back of the buswaycomponents.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a bridge joint coverassembly 200. The bridge joint cover 200 is substantially the same asthe bridge joint cover 100 described above, except for the differencesdescribed herein. The bridge joint cover assembly 200 includes a viewingplate 210 welded to mounting plate 220. In this embodiment, there is noIR material cover. Viewing plate 210 includes a plurality of infrared(“IR”) ports 230, similar to the IR ports 120 of FIG. 1. In alternativeembodiments (not shown), ports may be integrated with a mounting plate,eliminating viewing plate. In other alternative embodiments (not shown),a single pane of transparent IR material may be used in place of IRports 230.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded view of another alternative embodiment ofa bridge joint cover assembly 300, for use in an outdoor environment.Bridge joint cover assembly 300 is substantially the same as the priorembodiments, except for the differences described below. Bridge jointcover assembly 300 has four pieces, including a front piece 310, a backpiece 320, a top piece 330, and a bottom piece 340. Pieces 310, 320,330, 340, are fastened together via the various bolts extending throughslots in each of the pieces, as shown in FIG. 6. The slots of thevarious pieces are aligned with corresponding slots in the busway andbridge joint, so that when bolts are inserted through the aligned slotsthe pieces of the bridge joint cover assembly 300 are fixed to thebusways and bridge joint.

Top piece 330 and bottom piece 340 provide weatherproofing to the bridgejoint, and allow the bridge joint to operate in an environment exposedto the elements. Smaller waterproof plates 370 are installed on theoutside of the front piece 310 and back piece 320 to seal the slots inorder to waterproof the bridge joint.

In alternative embodiments (not shown), the bridge joint cover assembly300 can be fastened together with other fastening means, such as bywelding. Viewing plate 350 is not shown in detail, but is similar to theviewing plates discussed in the other embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Busways 360 include four phases, as described above, but aremerely exemplary. In alternative embodiments (not shown), busways mayinclude greater or fewer than four phases, for example three phases or 5phases. This embodiment does not include a cover plate for viewing plate350, but one can be included in alternative embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of abridge joint cover assembly 400, which is substantially the same as theembodiments disclosed above, except for differences detailed below.Bridge joint cover assembly 400 has two pieces, including a U-shapedlower piece 410 and a U-shaped upper piece 420 that are designed toconnect to each other. Lower piece 410 includes viewing plate 430, whichis not shown in detail but is similar to the viewing plates discussed inthe other embodiments of the present disclosure. This embodiment omits acover plate, but a cover plate can be included in alternativeembodiments (not shown). Similar to the embodiment disclosed above, thebridge joint cover assembly 400 can be fastened to a bridge joint and/orbusways via a plurality of bolts. Similar to the embodiment of FIG. 6,the slots of the various pieces are aligned with corresponding slots inthe busway and bridge joint, so that when bolts are inserted through thealigned slots the pieces of the bridge joint cover assembly 400 arefixed to the busways and bridge joint. The busways shown in FIG. 7 aremerely exemplary, and other busways may be used without departing fromthe scope of the present disclosure.

To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is used in thespecification or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a mannersimilar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted whenemployed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extentthat the term “or” is employed (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “Aor B or both.” When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B butnot both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed.Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not theexclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage624 (2d. Ed. 1995). Also, to the extent that the terms “in” or “into”are used in the specification or the claims, it is intended toadditionally mean “on” or “onto.” Furthermore, to the extent the term“connect” is used in the specification or claims, it is intended to meannot only “directly connected to,” but also “indirectly connected to”such as connected through another component or components.

While the present disclosure has been illustrated by the description ofembodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been described inconsiderable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants torestrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to suchdetail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, the disclosure, in its broaderaspects, is not limited to the specific details, the representativesystem and method, and illustrative examples shown and described.Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the applicant's general inventive concept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bridge joint cover assembly comprising: abridge joint cover plate configured to extend between a pair of buswaysand to cover a bridge joint, wherein the bridge joint cover plateincludes at least one first opening; and a viewing plate fixed to thebridge joint cover plate, wherein the viewing plate includes at leastone second opening aligned with the at least one first opening; andinfrared (IR) material located between the bridge joint cover plate andthe viewing plate, wherein the IR material has physical propertiessuitable for obtaining a temperature reading therethrough.
 2. The bridgejoint cover assembly of claim 1, further comprising a hinged coverconfigured to selectively cover the viewing plate.
 3. The bridge jointcover assembly of claim 2, further comprising a latch mechanismconnected to the hinged cover.
 4. The bridge joint cover assembly ofclaim 1, further comprising a rotatable cover configured to selectivelycover the viewing plate.
 5. The bridge joint cover assembly of claim 1,further comprising a sliding cover configured to selectively cover theviewing plate.
 6. The bridge joint cover assembly of claim 1, furthercomprising a removable cover configured to selectively cover the viewingplate.
 7. The bridge joint cover assembly of claim 1, wherein the bridgejoint cover plate includes two flanges that extend to fix the bridgejoint cover plate to at least one busway.
 8. The bridge joint coverassembly of claim 1, further including a top plate and a bottom platethat attach to the bridge joint cover plate, to cover a top and a bottomof a bridge joint.
 9. The bridge joint cover assembly of claim 1,further including a waterproof seal.
 10. The bridge joint cover assemblyof claim 1, wherein the bridge joint cover plate further includes atleast one elongated hole configured to receive a bolt.
 11. The bridgejoint cover assembly of claim 1, further including a waterproof seal.12. A bridge joint cover assembly comprising: a plate configured toextend between a pair of busways and to cover a bridge joint, whereinthe plate includes an opening; and infrared (IR) material located in theopening, wherein the IR material has physical properties suitable forobtaining a temperature reading therethrough.
 13. The method of claim12, further comprising a cover attached to one of the plate and thebridge joint.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the opening in theplate includes a plurality of openings.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein the plurality of openings are a plurality of honeycomb-shapedports.
 16. A bridge joint cover assembly comprising: a first plateconfigured to extend between a pair of busways and to cover a bridgejoint, wherein the first plate includes a hole; an IR material havingphysical properties suitable for obtaining a temperature readingtherethrough; and a second plate covering the IR material.
 17. Thebridge joint cover assembly of claim 16, wherein the second plate is acover connected to the bridge joint.
 18. The bridge joint cover assemblyof claim 17, wherein the IR material is located in the hole in the firstplate.
 19. The bridge joint cover assembly of claim 16, wherein thesecond plate includes a hole corresponding to the hole of the firstplate.
 20. The bridge joint cover assembly of claim 19, wherein the IRmaterial is sandwiched between the first plate and the second plate.